Control of the duration of output pulses from an Nd:YAG laser with a stimulated Brillouin scattering mirror

Methods for varying the duration of output pulses were proposed and implemented experimentally for lasers in the form of master oscillator — amplifier — stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) mirror systems. The conditions were found under which the introduction of losses into the radiation beam between the SBS mirror and the amplifier could alter considerably the pulse duration without a significant reduction in the output energy. The use of two different SBS media made it possible to construct a laser with the pulse duration variable from 6 to 40 ns at the expense of reducing the output energy by no more than 30%.